Year after year, Badgers get best of Big Ten

Iowa recently secured its second-straight winning season in Big Ten men's basketball play.

That isn't taken lightly here, since the Hawkeyes had gone the previous seven seasons without a conference record better than 9-9.

But should Wisconsin leave Carver-Hawkeye Arena Wednesday with a victory over Iowa, it will mark the Badgers' 16th-consecutive season with a winning Big Ten mark.

That's kind of crazy.

Even nuttier, Wisconsin was 1-4 to start the conference season. Now it's 9-5, and one win in its final four games means it has a winning record in Big Ten play every year from 2001 to 2016.

It's the same Wisconsin that didn't have a Big Ten winning record every season from 1975 to 1996.

How hard is it to string together 16 winning seasons in Big Ten play? Iowa has competed in Big Ten basketball since 1909. What do you think the program's longest stretch of winning conference seasons might be? Go ahead, take a moment.

The answer is ... five.

Iowa had double-digit Big Ten wins from 1979 through 1983 under Lute Olson (59-31 in that time) and again from 1985 through 1989 under George Raveling and Tom Davis (56-34 in that period).

The Hawkeyes haven't had four straight winning Big Ten records since 1996 through 1999 under Davis. This season marks Iowa's fifth winning conference mark since 2000.

Wisconsin has peeled off 15 in a row, and is a win from 16!

By the way, Iowa's next opponent after Wisconsin has secured its 11th-straight winning record in the Big Ten. Ohio State, at 10-5, has been a pillar of consistency under Thad Matta, and is 140-65 in the league under him.

Michigan State needs one more win — which it will try to get Tuesday night at Ohio State — for its fifth-consecutive winning Big Ten record. Maryland has two in a row. Purdue needs one more win for its second-straight.

Rutgers? It is 2-30 in Big Ten games and takes a 29-game league losing streak into its clash with Minnesota Tuesday in Minneapolis.